Over in what they refer to as the “Atlas District” – known more commonly by the rest of Western civilization as H Street NE – the Rock and Roll Hotel is slowly coming into its own as a venue. They have a diverse array of solid lineups checking in over the next month or so, and last night they hosted one of their better ones, an evening of music from local act Junior League and national acts Say Hi To Your Mom, +/-, and Bishop Allen. The latter three bands are ones I’ll call “For Your Consideration” acts — three bands who’ve won and deserved their modest success that I feel pretty confident can easily win some new fans. At ticket prices that ranged between $10 and $12, the R&R Hotel is making it possible to assay some new acts at an affordable price. (If you missed last night’s show, next Tuesday’s bill of The Long Winters with The Broken West and Stars of Track and Field offers rock fans the same level of low-cost to high-potential goodness.)

Kicking things off last night was DC’s Junior League, a six piece outfit who create an easy-going, roots-country sound. The band deploys all the right gear for what they want to accomplish, — harmonica and mandolin plying the melodies, a singer with an appropriately achy and lonesome voice, and, around her neck, that rarely seen but always appreciated item known as The Devil’s Instrument.* Would that it had gotten a fuller workout last night!